Tue. | Dec. 15 – Favorite Holiday Festivities – show off your favorite ornaments, home decor, place to go, holiday drinks, holiday eats, holiday themed readsThe holidays are pretty quiet around our house, here in the Seattle suburbs. About a week or two into December, we grab some Starbucks and head down to the local tree lot and pick out a lovely live tree. This year, we went for a tree that we could put more ornaments on rather than a fuller tree.
I promise that it looks better in person where you can see the ornaments more clearly! The only other decor we really do are old-fashioned colored lights on the outside of the house and a few things out on the mantlepiece. I used to do holiday towels and such around the house but nobody noticed but me so I kind of stopped doing it over time.
Our Christmas Eve tradition is to have chili. I make a yummy steak and black bean chili and cornbread! We read The Night Before Christmas and each open one present. Then Z heads to bed and I stay up and track Santa!
Christmas morning starts with a bowl of Lucky Charms before we open presents. Then we have a big brunch with many mimosas, usually followed by lovely, relaxing naps! Dinner is whatever I decide to make but it's rarely fully traditional. This year, I'm thinking beef filets with potatoes. It doesn't make sense to make a large turkey or ham when there's only four of us (my "baby" sis is usually up here with us every year for the holiday).
Other than the main holiday, we love to head to the zoo to see the beautiful WildLights, we get some sort of fancy dinner out for hubby's birthday, and, this year, we're heading to the Experience Music Project to see the big Hello Kitty exhibit (yes, this was planned by sis and me)! Sis and I always watch Christmas in Connecticut when she gets here and, time permitting, The Holiday, Love Actually, and The Man Who Came to Dinner. The whole family loves to watch Christmas Vacation and Elf. And hubby is one of those strange people that insist Die Hard is a holiday film.
Anyway, we're hoping for a white Christmas this year though we very rarely get one. Still, miracles sometimes happen!
What are your favorite holiday traditions?
Making a list,
K
I'm a huge fan of the old fashioned colored lights outdoors! For some reason, I'm a 100% colored lights person...no white for me!
ReplyDeleteUs too! We have white lights that I sometimes mix in for brightness but most years I go all colored lights because they're prettier. :)
DeleteI wish I had put only colored lights on my tree. Not sure what possessed me to get the white. :)
ReplyDeleteSteak and black bean chili sounds good.
Lovely activities...thanks for sharing.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My A Month of Faves
The good thing is that you can change it up every year!
DeleteChristmas day at your house sounds perfect. Lucky charms, mimosas? I think Santa would approve!
ReplyDeleteIt IS perfect. :)
DeleteI absolutely love the old-fashioned lights! Those are my favorite kind of holiday decorations; they always lift my spirits. I do not like these blow-up lit lawn figures that people have these days. Gaudy! And when they are deflated all over the lawn, it looks like someone massacred them dead.
ReplyDeleteWe are even having trouble switching to LEDs even though we know we will save money and use less energy because they just aren't the old-fashioned lights. I mean, I have bubble lights on my tree! Old-fashioned holidays is my thing. :)
DeleteAnd I am not a fan of the blow-up figures either, especially ones that are only vaguely holiday related.
Love your Christmas traditions! We're doing lasagna for Christmas this year. I just can't eat any more chicken and dressing so close to Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteWe've done lasagna before too! For both T-giving and Christmas, we tend to just do whatever special meal we're in the mood for instead of traditional meals. :)
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